Near Field Communication Technology, known by the acronym “NFC”, is a wireless, high frequency communication technology, having a range of a few centimeters, for the exchange of information between multiple devices. This technology is derived from a combination of a smart card interface and a contactless reader in a single device.
An NFC device is able to communicate with other NFC devices as well as devices operating in accordance with the ISO 14443 standard (contactless smart cards).
NFC standards cover the NFC communication protocols and data exchange formats and are based on existing standards for radio frequency identification (RFID) such as ISO/IEC 14443, FeliCa and ISO/IEC 18092. They include standards defined by the “NFC Forum”, which was founded in 2004 by Nokia, Philips and Sony and includes more than 180 members.
NFC is an extension of RFID technology, allowing two-way communication between two devices, while previous systems, such as contactless smart cards, allowed only one-way communication.
NFC technology is usable only over a short distance of a few centimeters, which implies a voluntary user and prevents unintentional use.
NFC devices can be active or passive. A passive NFC device, such as a tag, a smart card or a simple chip affixed to an object contains information only readable by other NFC-enabled devices. A passive NFC device is powered by the electromagnetic field generated by a reader (active device) and therefore does not need its own power supply.
An active NFC device, however, is a device that generates an electromagnetic field. This generation can be done to communicate with a passive device (described above) or to establish a communication channel between two active devices.
The fact that a device like a smartphone has a power supply does not necessarily mean that it will work in active mode only. That is, a smartphone can handle the NFC interface in active or passive modes. In passive mode, the device emulates a chip card. In this mode, the smartphone (or any other portable device such as tablets) will store, in a secure memory, information that is normally stored in a card. Thus, when the smartphone detects an electromagnetic field, it can access the secure memory and a corresponding device having NFC capacities will be able to read information in passive mode from the secure memory.
The following are examples of known applications that use NFC technology:                payment using a credit card or contactless (e.g., mobile phone, smartphone, laptop, tablet computer, etc.) mobile device on a contactless payment terminal;        payment at a parking terminal accepting contactless payment using an NFC mobile terminal;        contactless purchase of a ticket and contactless validation of a ticket displayed on a mobile phone;        management of coupons, loyalty points, etc. in a store, at retailers, etc. (e.g., couponing);        accessing and starting a vehicle using a mobile phone;        reading product information (e.g., price, composition, allergy, etc.) in a store;        controlling physical access to premises (e.g., meeting room, business, classroom, etc.);        exchanging profiles between users of a social network or a game by bringing phones close together (e.g., user peer- to-peer communications);        reading an electronic business card with a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant);        synchronizing Internet bookmarks and contacts between a PDA and a mobile phone;        recovering a key to a WiFi access point approaching an NFC device from an authorized terminal; and;        accessing automation features of a building.        